


No Time

by ConfessionForAnotherTime



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Angst, Gen, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-29
Updated: 2014-09-29
Packaged: 2018-02-19 04:47:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2375135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConfessionForAnotherTime/pseuds/ConfessionForAnotherTime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shepard tells Joker about what happened to his sister on Tiptree</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KiraMae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KiraMae/gifts).



“Joker, can you have EDI take over piloting. Some news came in that he will want to hear. In private.” Shepard’s eyes cast down as Joker turned his chair to look at her.

“Shepard? What going on?” He took the hand that she had stretched out, slowly pulling himself up to follow her to the conference room on the way to the War Room.

“The two of you. Leave and make sure no one comes in those sides of the doors,” she ordered, dismissing the two women who checked the scanners.

“Shepard. What’s going on,” Joker asked, sitting on one of the crates as Shepard shut the hatch to the War Room after signaling to those inside that it would be a few minutes.

“I know you asked Liara before about Tiptree and how it went dark. I know we haven’t heard anything…” She looked over to the table in the otherwise empty room. The pit growing in her stomach as she wished she could avoid this conversation twisted and knotted, reminding her what she had to do.

“You wouldn’t be saying anything if you hadn’t heard anything though. What is it.” He looked her in the eye, attempting to keep contact, failing as she turned away. “I know communication went dark, but that doesn’t mean that everything has gone to hell there.”

“Everything has gone to hell there, Joker,” she whispered. She turned back to face him, absently tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear, a nervous gesture.

“Yes, but how do you know. Like we’ve already discussed, the colony went dark. No one has heard anything. How do you know. I would have known if you went there or--” Shepard felt the tension rise as his voice cracked. She knew she had to tell him but there wasn’t a delicate way of handling this.

“Joker. Your family is dead. Your father. Your sister. Gone.” She closed her eyes as the last word left her lips, sure that his anger was going to boil over. She had pulled him aside so he could have that time, but instead she was met with a laugh.

“You’re fucking kidding right? You’re joking.” He covered his forehead with his hand, a hearty laugh escaping his lips as he leaned back, his entire chest shaking.

“Why would I even begin to joke about your family dying?” The serious tone quelled his reaction, stilling the laughter as his hand fell from his face and he looked over at her.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” His face fell, his eyes downcast. “You know, I knew deep down that once the colony went dark, that’s what happened. I knew that they didn’t make it. How did they find out?” His voice had lowered to just above a whisper.

“There’s an asari commando in Huerta Memorial being treated for posttraumatic stress that talked of her ordeal on a colony. It wasn’t until I had been listening for a while that she mentioned what colony it was as well what had completely happened.” She swallowed, her mouth dry as she continued with the information she knew. “She mentioned how they were taken by surprise. They had been tasked with helping evacuate after they had been attacked by reaper forces.”

“What would reapers want with that colony anyway? It was just a bunch of farmers and children.” His voice was low as he asked her to analyze the military tactics of an enemy they didn’t understand.

“I don’t know. The commando went on to explain that she had escaped with a young girl. She mentioned wanting to be a pilot as well as having a brother who was a pilot for the Alliance.” Shepard felt the knot in her stomach grow more as his hands fell to his lap. His body gave a small shake.

“Then what happened?” he asked as he pulled the SR-2 cap off his head, straightening his hair before putting it back on, refusing to make eye contact.

“The commando said that they spent some time in the hills running from her partner who had been indoctrinated and turned into a banshee. The fear of knowing that her lover could still be in there forced them to flee. She kept Hilary--”

“Gunny,” he corrected her softly.

“She kept Gunny safe out in the hills. Later, she said they noticed that the farmers had been rounded up, and Gunny went to help free them. She managed to break her leg in the process and also found that all of the farmers who remained had been indoctrinated as well. She kept Gunny with her… until.”

“Until what? The reapers got her? Not much she can do with a busted leg without that asari helping her,” he spat out.

“The asari was the one that killed her. She said Gunny was making too much noise about her injury and that her whimpers gave them away. She silenced her in order to get away.” Shepard screwed her eyes shut, taking in a deep breath as she opened them again, noticing Joker’s hands holding either side of his face.

“Why did it have to be her though?” he asked as Shepard closed the distance between the two of them, her arms pulling him into a soft hug. “Who in the hell decided that their own life was worth more than my sister’s? Ya know what? No. I’m not going to let this destroy me. We’re taking down those assholes if it’s the last thing we do Shepard.”

“What about taking time to grieve about this?” she started, pulling back from their embrace.

“What about anything, Shepard? If you haven’t noticed, no one is getting time to grieve. We either fight or we die. Hell, we might fight until we die. I just know that if I let Gunny’s death get you or EDI or anyone else on this ship killed, I will have failed her and her memory. She may have only been here for fifteen years, but I want her to live on despite it.”

“Glad to hear it, Joker.” Shepard moved toward the door, noticing the lack of footsteps behind her. She turned to see him still sitting on the crate. She could see the darkened spots forming on his pants as the tears silently fell. She wordlessly scanned herself through the CIC checkpoint, advising the women on the other side of the doors to wait a few more minutes before returning to their post.

 

 


End file.
